Remember When?
by Hope the Ghost Writer
Summary: A collection of short stories about how Cecilia met her three Pokemon before she went to Unova. Based off of characters from my current project, Long Division.
1. Delilah, Part One

"Happy tenth birthday, Cece!"

It was amazing. I had finally reached ten years of age, meaning that I could start on my journey. I was excited beyond belief...

...but I wasn't sure if I really wanted to leave. (At least, not right away.) I had really enjoyed life at home, especially since my sister was the gym leader. How many people could say that they spent most of their life observing gym battles? Not many, that's for sure. Of course, I _did _want to see the world. However, I had spent the week prior to my birthday debating in my mind whether or not I wanted to go. With every reason that I had for wanting to go on my journey, I thought of more reasons for me to stay behind for a bit longer.

"Cece, it's time to wake up!" my mom called, "You have a lot on your plate today! Your tenth birthday isn't going to last forever, you know."

I slowly pushed myself up in my bed. My eyes scanned the whole of my room, and I noticed that everything looked the same. I glanced at my hands. Nothing was different about them either. I knew that I was ten, but I didn't _feel_ like it.

I scanned the room again. My bedroom door was open, and in came waddling a Snorunt wearing a colorful party hat on top of her pointy head. She hopped up onto my bed and stood on my lap. "Good morning, Cece!" she said, grinning brightly.

"Morning, Delilah," I responded.

"Are we going to go on a journey today?" she asked me with curiosity.

I admitted, "I'm not sure, Delilah. I'm not sure."

She tipped to the side a bit. "What do you mean you're 'not sure'?"

"I-I'm just _not sure_."

She turned her back to me. "I'm not taking that as an answer. Either you know if your gonna or you're not."

"Delilah, this is _my_ choice, not _yours_."

"Hmph."

I heard footsteps coming from the hall outside of my room. In came walking my sister: a tall, eighteen year-old girl with black, double-braided hair dressed in a three-quarter sleeved white button-down shirt and a tan miniskirt with an icy blue sweatshirt wrapped around her waist like a belt. As she stared at me with her usual, cheerful grin, she trilled, "_Mooooooorning_, birthday girl!"

"Morning, Candice," I greeted her back. "I see you're not at the gym this morning. Took the day off?"

"Mhm. I closed it for the day. I mean, it's your _tenth_ birthday! It's one of the most special birthdays ever, with the exception of a Sweet Sixteen."

Delilah looked up at Candice. "Uh, _hello?_ I'm here, too!"

Candice pat the Snorunt on the back. "Morning to you, too! Looks like someone was eager to celebrate their trainer's birthday!"

"That," Delilah admitted, "and I needed to get the heck out of my Pokeball for a bit."

Candice giggled. "You're so feisty!" she described. "It's totally unlike an ice type, but it's totally _amazing_! You and Cece will have such a _fabulous_ journey!"

"Yeah, if we actually get to g-" Delilah began to say, but I grabbed her and squeezed her tightly to get her to shut up. "Let go of me!" the Snorunt said with a muffled voice.

"I have a gift for you," Candice said, "but I'm not gonna give it to you until you get out of bed and come to the kitchen!"

Then, my sister pranced out of my room, twirling and skipping as she did. She was filled to the brim with excitement and joy, the way she always was. Little did she realize how unusual it was for _herself_ to be an ice type gym leader.

I picked up Delilah and hopped out of bed. "Let's go, Dede," I said to my Snorunt.

"Call me Dede one more time..." the Pokemon growled.

I smiled and laughed. "Let's go eat some breakfast," I said, "Delilah."

"_Much_ better." Delilah rolled her eyes, as if she was thinking, _When will Cece learn?_

Of course, neither of us liked having nicknames. Although we appeared to have nothing in common, there was one thing that would drive either one of us ballistic: getting called by our nicknames. I let my parents and sister get away with it (being that they are my parents), but Delilah didn't want _anyone_ to call her Dede. Ever.

I walked out of the room, my Snorunt cradled in my arms, and braced ourselves for whatever was planned for our last breakfast at home.

**-x-**

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CECE!" my parents and sister belted as I walked into the kitchen. They were surrounding the kitchen table in a half moon shape, and my sister's Froslass stood quietly next to Candice at one end. The Pokemon was holding a box wrapped in shiny wrapping paper and topped with a dark blue bow. In the center of the arc formed by my family was a stack of pancakes with a candle in it. The candle's flame was dwindling, indicating that they must've been waiting for me to get out of bed for a while.

"Thank you so much!" I said with gratitude as I went to hug my family. First, I hugged my dad. Then came my mom. When I went to hug Candice, she told me, "I'm not hugging you until you open your gift!"

Her Froslass held out the box to me. I stared at it for a good couple of seconds before putting Delilah down and grabbing the gift box. I slowly unwrapped the present, being careful as to not rip the wrapping paper. Once the gift was unveiled, I saw a plain, white cardboard box. I slowly opened the top of the box, and inside was a light turquoise stone that sparkled brighter than stars in the night sky. It was gorgeous, but I had no idea what it was.

"It's a Dawn Stone," Candice explained to me. "I thought that it'd be nice for you to experience your first Pokemon evolution now, so that's why I got you this. If you give it to Delilah, it will evolve her into a Froslass."

Delilah smiled. "Evolving?" she cheered. "Yes! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" The Snorunt waddled over to Candice and hugged her leg.

"Seriously, this is great!" I thanked her. "I love it!"

"I'm so glad to hear that!" Candice smiled. She seemed overjoyed that I loved my gift.

I pulled the stone out of the box and admired it a few minutes more. "It's so stunning," I said. "Delilah, are you ready to evolve?"

Sarcastically, Delilah replied, "No. No, I'm not."

Everyone laughed, and I gave the stone to Delilah to hold. She then underwent her metamorphosis. Once the Dawn Stone was securely in the Snorunt's hands, the Pokemon's body began to sparkle and radiate a bright, white light of some sort. As her form illuminated in the light, she began to change. Her form went from the short, stubby one of a Snorunt's to a taller, more elegant form-the one of a Froslass. Once the transformation was complete, the light began to subside, revealing Delilah's newly evolved form.

First, I basked in the beauty of Delilah's new appearance. It was ominous, yet interesting and gorgeous. At first, I thought that everything about her had changed...

...but, then again, I hadn't heard her speak yet. I ran over to hug my evolved Pokemon, and as I did, Delilah cried out, "Stop squeezing me too hard, Cece!"

I was wrong; she was the same temperamental Pokemon as before. I let go of her and then hugged Candice. "Thank you!" I said. "This has been the best birthday ever."

"You're welcome, sis," she replied. We let go, and she asked me, "So, are you ready to go on your journey or what?"

My parents appeared interested to know, too. I knew that I had to tell them something, but I didn't know what to say. I thought long and hard for a moment. First, I considered how amazing it would be to go on a journey across Sinnoh, defeating gym leaders and competing in Pokemon Contests. Then, I considered how great my life was at home.

I had to make a decision. It was now or never.

"Listen," I answered, "to be honest..."

**-x-**

"You're not mad at me or anything, right, Delilah?" I asked as Delilah and I sat on top of a hill near our house. My butt was freezing from sitting on the snow-topped hill, but I didn't really mind at the moment.

Delilah sighed. "Well, I guess not," she replied. "I mean, you had your reasons. I was looking forward to going on a journey, to be honest, but you wanted to train me more before you did. It's not a _bad_ strategy; I don't totally disagree with it, but I don't totally agree with it either."

We didn't talk for a few minutes. The two of us stared at the daytime sky. It was cloudy and about to snow-not very uncommon for Snowpoint City.

"Remember when I first found you?" I reminded her. "That was two years ago today."

I recalled the entire story in my mind. It was as if the event occurred the day before...


	2. Delilah, Part Two

I was eight years of age when I first met Delilah. How we met was an interesting occurrence, but I guess that's how fate works.

"Happy Eighth Birthday, Cece!"

Yup. It was exactly two years before I rejected the idea of going on a journey. Exactly two years before my sister began to take my training seriously (or as serious as my sister could possibly get, which most of the time wasn't extremely serious).

I sat at the dinner table with my entire family. It was eight o'clock, oddly enough. My sister had just closed up the gym for the night. My mom had no more house work to do. My dad no longer had to babysit my older sister (talk about ironic) at the gym for the night. School was no longer in session for the day. All of this freedom meant that all of the attention was on me for once.

(Yes, that does mean that I envied my sister's skills and attention every so often.)

Anyways, the birthday celebration was small, but it didn't matter; having my entire family together at the same time and place was a rare occurrence in my family, making the moment special in itself. My simple birthday cake sat in the center of the table. It was covered with cream cheese frosting and filled with the frosting and red velvet cake. There were nine candles dug deep into the surface of the cake-eight to represent my age and one for good luck. I blew out each candle carefully, wishing on each one as I did. Each wish was different and, for the most part, was focused towards obtaining something petty: good grades, to have a boy fall in love with me, et cetera, et cetera. However, the wish that I had made on the "good luck" candle was the most special one:

_I wish I could make friends with my own Pokemon. I love Candice's Pokemon, but I wish I could experience the excitement of having my own. I want to be just like my sister._

I blew out the final candle, and then my dad began to cut the cake. He allotted a piece to each member of my family. Once everyone was served, we dug in, scarfing down the delicious cake as slowly as we could (which wasn't very slow, to be brutally honest).

I was the first to finish my piece. I then excused myself and asked my parents, "Can I stargaze on the hill for a bit?"

"But don't you want to open your gifts first?" Mom asked.

I nodded my head in disagreement.

My mom agreed. "Fine; go ahead. Just be back by nine latest, and don't stray past the hill! Oh, and bring a flashlight...and your emergency whistle, just in case something were to go wrong. Oh, and-"

"Mom," I groaned.

"Just be careful, okay? You don't have the protection of a Pokemon, and just the fact that you don't worries me. In fact...Candice, would you be a dear and-"

"Fine," she groaned in agreement, "I'll go."

"Thank you, sweetie," my mom said gratefully.

Candice and I grabbed our coats and went outside. "Remember," my mom reminded us, "nine o'clock _latest_!"

We then waved to our mom as a signal that we heard her, then left the house.

**-x-**

This hill and I have always shared a close bond. If it weren't for this particular hill-let's call it The Hill from here on out-then I'd be a totally different person. By totally different person, I mean I'd probably end up being a loser who grows old and alone and lives with thirty-five Purugly in her house rather than with a loving husband.

As my sister and I sat on The Hill, I looked for shooting stars, and Candice for anything unusual or interesting (whether it be nebulae or cosmos or planets). A comet slingshotted across the star-spangled sky like a rocket, and my sister squealed, "Ooh! Make a wish! Quick!"

To this day, I never found out what my sister wished for. However, my wish was the same exact as the one that I had made on the "good luck" candle: to have my own Pokemon and to be great like Candice.

Then, something remarkable happened. A women, shrouded by a thick, wool cloak that was darkly colored, ran out of the nearby woods and towards me. Not towards Candice. Me. There was something wrapped in a light cloth in her hands, but I couldn't tell what it was.

She positioned herself in front of me and shoved the package into my arms. "Keep Delilah safe," she advised. "Keep her safe from _them_."

Something else I never understood: who was _them?_

Regardless, I didn't protest. Before I had a change to even mutter a word to the lady, she fled instantly and quickly.

I looked down at the package. "What is it?" Candice asked.

I was about to find out. I slowly removed the wrappings from the package and found a Snorunt hidden inside the cloth. It blinked at me, then looked around, trying to move its cone-shaped body as she did. "Where am I?" she asked in a panic.

Candice and I were stricken with shock. Simultaneously, we cried out, "You can talk?"

"A better question would be: 'Can you two pipe down a little already?'" she responded with a sassy attitude.

We silently took her back to the house.

**-x-**

"Let me get this straight," my dad said, "a strange lady gave you this Pokemon out of nowhere and left. Isn't that a bit suspicious."

"Not as suspicious as this," I said.

I poked the Snorunt's shoulder, and she shouted, "Hey! What gives!"

"How interesting!" my mother cried out.

I focused my attention on the Snorunt. It was cute, could talk, and had an attitude. As annoying as I expected the attitude to be, I overlooked that fact and zeroed in on its cuteness.

I thought about how the lady had just shown up out of nowhere, all just to give me a Pokemon and run off afterwards...

...and then it hit me. My wish had come true! I then begged my parents, "Can I keep her? _Please!"_

"Sweetie," my dad said, bending down so his eyes could meet mine, "having a Pokemon is a big responsibility. I don't think that you're ready for that yet."

My mom agreed. Candice, on the other hand, objected. She countered with, "Why do you say that? For the love of Arceus, I was there when it happened! That lady practically _chose_ her to care for this Snorunt. She and Cece were destined to be paired up with each other."

My parents exchanged glances as they silently tried to figure out what to do. Then, my dad spoke up. "Fine," he said, "but on one condition."

I asked, "Which is-"

It was my mom's turn to talk: "Candice needs to help you take care of her until your tenth birthday. By then, you'll be old enough to take care of her all by yourself."

"Deal," Candice agreed.

I nodded. "Sounds good to me," I said.

I looked down at the Snorunt cradled in my arms. Sarcastically, Delilah complained, "Oh, but I was kind of _hoping _that I'd have to run around with that panicked loser for the rest of eternity."

_Oh, hush now, _I thought.

"Are you going to name her?" my sister asked.

As I looked down at my new friend, I replied, "Yes. Delilah." Candice raised an eyebrow. "It's the name that the lady used when she gave Delilah to me. Plus, it sounds pretty."

"It does, doesn't it?" Delilah agreed.

"This sounds great and all, but aren't we all forgetting something?" my dad pointed out.

My mom, my sister, and I all stared at my dad with confused glances.

"Delilah needs a Pokeball," he explained.

"Ohhhhh," I droned.

My dad ran out of the room for a few moments. When he returned, there was a Pokeball in his right hand. He clicked the center button, and the object dilated to three times its original size. He gave the enlarged object to me and told me, "You do the honors."

I put Delilah on the floor and threw the Pokeball at her. With a beam of red light, she was transferred inside of the ball. It fell to the floor and turned red. It rocked back and forth impatiently.

_Wobble, wobble._

_Wobble, wobble._

_Wobble, wobble._

_Click!_

With an array of sparkles, the ball indicated that Delilah had been successfully caught. I picked up the ball and looked at it. _My first Pokemon,_ I thought.

A red beam of light flashed from the center of the Pokeball, and out came Delilah. "Wait," I said out loud, "how did you-"

"Come _on_," she grumbled, "you expect me to sit in there forever?"

"It's only been about a minute, not even," I pointed out.

"Whatever. It felt like forever to me."

_Taking care of Delilah with Candice will be one heck of an adventure, _I thought. _No doubt about that._

And that's where our story began.


End file.
